Reconstruction of full-thickness chest wall defects using rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap: a report of fifteen cases

In 15 patients chest walls were excised because of recurrent breast cancer, radiation ulcer, or rib tumor. In most cases the full-thickness defect of the chest wall was about 10 x 10 cm. Reconstruction was performed using only a rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap. No patient developed circulation problems in the flap or severe flail chest, and we had successful results in all our cases. These results show that the rectus abdominis musculocutaneous flap is quite effective and safe to use in the reconstruction of chest wall defects.